Thanksgiving Eve

Wow! The day before Thanksgiving. Where has the year gone, and boy am I glad for a few days away from school. I can hardly wait until my entire little family is gathered once again at the Thanksgiving table. Jacob arrived home last night. Sarah and her family are coming tomorrow mid-morning. This will be Josiah's first Thanksgiving. I haven't seen the kids since last month, and I know they've changed so much--especially Josiah. This will also be Jessa's first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Granpa's house -- I hope she likes the eatin's.

I approach the approaching Advent season with mixed emotions, as usual. I love this season . . .the cooking, the choosing of presents, the decoration of the house and of course the anticipation of our Lord's birth. But on the flip side . . . massive social obligations, lots of work related things (church services, programs, papers to grade, report cards, decoration of the classroom...) I miss my mom a lot during the holidays. I always wish she could be here with us for these occasions with such strong family foundations.

For day 1 of the season, I have cleaned the house in anticipation of tomorrow's guests. My cornbread is baked for the stuffing, one buttermilk pie done, one cheesecake baking as I type, 6 eggs hard-boiled, rugs washed, clothes washing, and one apple pie yet to do. Plus dinner in a bit. Plus church later on.

I LOVE cooking a holiday dinner. I'm not sure why, but I get such satisfaction out of the whole thing. I guess just knowing people are looking forward to it makes me feel all warm and happy. Sarah's bringing two of the sides, so that will make tomorrow even easier. Plus there is the ATM vs. UT game and probably a Cowboy game to watch, and then dinner/dessert at friends at the end of the day. I can hardly wait!

Easter Sunday's - Yesterday's and Today

I always get sentimental at times like these. I have spent a lot of time this week thinking back to Sarah's first Easter. She wasn't yet even a year old. Our family had a great and fun tradition. After church, everyone changes clothes, and loads up their picnic lunches and meet at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We had the same spot every year. We'd enjoy being together, eat our lunch, and take a walk to "smell the roses." At this point, the Easter Bunny (aka Grampy) would hide the Easter eggs. On our return, the hunt would begin. My husbands' family had been doing this for years. For Sarah's first Easter, his youngest sister continued the egg hunting - even though she was 12! My parents joined the crowd, and it was always a nice time. After all that, we would walk over to the Japanese Gardens for a tour, and feed the giant gold fish. We did this every year until we moved. The rest of the family continue to celebrate Easter in just this way, even today!













Now that Sarah has her own family, I know how special all those firsts are. But these times make me miss being together with all our extended family. (Was she not the cutest baby ever?)

So today, with extended family far away, we surrounded ourselves with friends. All our Godchildren were in town and at church. We got a rare photo with all of them.We even managed to drag Jacob away from teen-age food and fun for a quick family pic.

We had several families from church over to share our Easter feast. Everyone shared lots of laughter and good times. The funniest thing that happened:

My friend asked to bring something, and we decided on a potato casserole. She mixed it up ahead of time, intending to bake it at church right after Sunday School was over. (We live right next door, and I use both ovens to cook in :) She put in the the refrigerator before church. We were in the kitchen after church, and she said, "Oh, you already got my casserole out." I hadn't even looked for it yet! So we look around, and her dish is sitting out nice and clean and empty! Turns out, the ladies set it out for the brunch! UNCOOKED! Can you even imagine?? I then recall seeing it out on the table and wondering what in the world that was? My friend was really glad her dish didn't have her name on it! Don't you think that it would be obvious that a potato casserole was not a breakfast item - especially an uncooked one. We laughed all afternoon about it. And I had all the ingredients to mix up another one.

I Know, I Know, I Know...

It's been forever since my last post...and this is my 100th post according to my dashboard. I would have liked something profound *sigh* Who knew how busy I would be going back to work...This month is crazy, as December always is. We seem to have work related social engagements most evenings. I haven't graded a paper since Sunday. (Of course, I have the best of intentions, bringing home books and papers every night.) There is no lesson plan what-so-ever this week. We are pulling our hair out rehearsing for the Christmas program which will thankfully be over next Thursday.

Hip hip hurray for us, my beloved and I went to town at 4 am the day after Thanksgiving and did all of our shopping and we were home asleep again by 9:30. We traveled with our list and coupons and did an excellent job budget wise. (Nothing is wrapped yet, of course). I mailed the Christmas cards on Tuesday, as well as the packages that needed shipping. My tree finally has all the ornaments on it, and the boxes of decorations are pretty much empty.

My great son, Jacob, showed once again how like my dad he is. Our Ginny cat LOVES the Christmas tree...always has...she lays under it every minute she's in the house...and plays with the lights. Perhaps I posted about how we had to throw out our Christmas trees in the fall due to possums in the garage...we bought a very nice pre-lit one that was so, SO much quicker to set up. Ginny seemed to have chewed through a light wire - yes - an entire lower section with no lights. Jacob took one look, got his knife, scissors, and electrical tape and proceeded to strip the wires and reconnect them...and VOILA - lights! Daddy would have loved to see it.

Markus had his 17th birthday on Dec. 1. He wanted to go to the beach since in Germany it is always very cold on his birthday. We had a nice day, sunny and around 85. He swam in the ocean and had a very nice day.

My birthday soon followed on the 6th. Yikes, how did I ever get to be 45! I had a terrific day. Allan had a beautiful vase of roses waiting for me, with my birthday day books wrapped so beautifully, a chocolate birthday cake and "Princess" plates, napkins, and cups. We ate at a great local burger place (because I was really wanting the fried pickles) and came home for cake and ice cream and 'bubbly.'

I have been getting very, very, VERY cranky with this stupid hot weather. It should NOT be 85 degrees in the middle of December. God has blessed me today with a 50 degree day. Cloudy, overcast, drizzle (I can pretend it is snow). I wore a sweater today. Always a good thing.

I'm enjoying reading my James Patterson book that I got for my birthday. You can tell how busy we are that I have not already finished it! I have 3 more books to follow after this one!

I sure miss keeping up with all my friends in cyber space. I pop in sometimes so I'm not completely in the dark (deep in the shadows though). Hopefully after the first of the year, I will be back to at least once a week updates, leaving lots of comments on your blogs.

Mother's Day

I have had a wonderful Mother's Day. We had a really nice service this morning at church. We had a baptism, which is always special. (Our new Godson was also baptised this morning in CA.) Allan preached about Lydia. He stressed how important the women of the Bible were to the spread of Christianity. The youth gave all the mom's flowers after church was over, and the men served cake and punch. After our second church service, we were glad to be home and relax. I opened presents and cards. My son has definitely inherited his father's silver tongue, as he wrote me such a nice note in my card. My husband's cards are always so special. I actually have saved every card and note he's written me all these years. I got a new watch (since I lost my old one in the yard!), and two new cookbooks. I can hardly wait to make out my grocery list tomorrow and have all new things to cook. I talked to my mom on the phone for a good bit, and then my mother-in-law. We're so blessed to have such an awesome family. The funny thing is, is that everyday feels like Mother's day to me, because I'm so well treated all the time. I never feel unappreciated, or put-upon. I truly have a wonderful life.

Another Easter Comes and Goes

Another Lenten/Easter season draws to a close. My husband is exhausted after many weeks of additional sermons to write and services to prepare. One out of town funeral, one wedding, and many hospital visits. Tomorrow...rest...much needed rest.

For our Easter dinner I prepared:

Honey glazed spiral cut ham
Hash brown potato casserole
Texas Corn Pudding
Cornbread Dressing (Stuffing)
Deviled eggs
Cranberry sauce (jellied of course!)
Crescent rolls (from a tube of course!)

Our daughter and son-in-law came and visited and ate with us. She is looking so cute during her pregnancy. They are so happy and excited! After the last dish was washed, I called my mom in Fort Worth and talked to her for an hour. She was in good spirits and we shared some funny stories.

Our Easter weekend was COLD. Yesterday was a high of 54! The Sunday School kids had their coats on for their Easter Egg hunt. Last night 38 - unheard of this far south. My mom had snow in Fort Worth. How did my husband know a month ago when he picked out my Easter outfit (with a long sleeve linen jacket) that it would be so chilly?? (That is of course the question I'm never supposed to ask - How'd you know?)